| How should you receive a life insurance payout? Deciding how to take a life insurance benefit can be a difficult choice. The size of a death proceed is usually substantial, and the timing of having to make such an important financial decision couldn’t be worse. Therefore, you should regroup emotionally and understand your options before you do anything. RETIREMENT & ESTATE PLANNING T. Brian Hayes ACCREDITED RETIREMENT PLANNER CHARTERED TRUST & ESTATE PLANNER CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISOR When the time is right, there are three basic alternatives to choose from: You can accept the lump sum, leave the money with the insurance company, or arrange for the insurance company to pay you a regular income. The lump-sum payout is the simplest and most often chosen concept. You’d get a check and can invest or spend it any way you wish. The second alternative is to set up a retained-asset account with the insurance company. You would earn a rate of return on the death benefit that is similar to that of a money market or bank savings account and could access the funds by writing a check. If you are retired and are concerned about outliving your assets, you may want to look into the third alternative, which is a fixedpayment option. The first option would be a lifetime annuity, which would pay you an income for the rest of your life. The second option is a joint-and-survivor annuity which pays you and any other dependent a lifetime income. A third is a period-certain annuity which pays you an income for a specified period. If you should pass away during this period, the payments will continue to your beneficiary for the remainder of the term. Lastly is the life with period-certain annuity which pays you a lifetime income and guarantees the payments for a minimum term. The size of the payments will depend on the amount of the death benefit, your age and that of any joint-income beneficiary and the payment term. To learn more and understand your options better, contact Hayes Advisory Group at 452-PLAN, 800-939-1603 or [email protected]. Paid advertisement |
